People speak lightly: people without higher social status have no weight.
Abuse of power for personal gain: use one's power to seek personal interests.
Hit a bird on the head with a gun: a gun is specially used to hit a bird on the head. Metaphor is that the leader is vulnerable.
Scapegoat: A big shot made a mistake and introduced a little guy to "take the fall".
Personal grudges: taking advantage of work to retaliate against personal grudges.
Coercion: Coercion.
Climbing a dragon and attaching a phoenix: a metaphor for people with low status and people with high social status. It is also a metaphor that people with poor family conditions want to marry people with good family conditions.